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2013.A11 Wisse, Remembering Cremutius Cordus

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2013.A11 Wisse, Remembering Cremutius Cordus Histos () – REMEMBERING CREMUTIUS CORDUS: * TACITUS ON HISTORY, TYRANNY AND MEMORY Abstract: Tacitus’ account of the treason trial of the historian Cremutius Cordus under Tiberius has long been recognised as a statement about the freedom of speech of a historian under a repressive regime. This paper offers a full interpretation of the passage, Annals .–, seen as part of the tightly woven texture of the beginning of the work. Its main problem is the perceived implausibility of Cremutius’ claim that his praise of Brutus and Cassius ought not to have provoked the emperor’s anger. It is here argued that this can be solved by a new interpretation of the preceding digression on historiography under the empire, a passage often assumed to expose the disingenuousness of Cremutius’/Tacitus’ claim; the concept of figured speech, often invoked, is shown to be irrelevant to the issue. Moreover, as it memorialises Tiberius’ guilt as well as Cremutius’ courageous frankness, the passage is a demonstration of the power of history, in accordance with the programmatic statement in ... Introductory remutius Cordus is a familiar name among students of ancient historiography. This is, of course, due to his speech and death as Cthey appear in Tacitus’ famous account of his treason trial in Annals .–—all the more remarkable because Cremutius is mentioned nowhere else in Tacitus. This is not to say that his appearances in other authors are unimportant, as we will see. But the passage in the Annals is highly significant, and has accordingly drawn much scholarly attention. For it is * A preliminary version of parts of this piece was presented at Newcastle on November as my inaugural lecture, ‘Lest We Forget: Tacitus on history-writing under a tyranny’: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/events/public-lectures/archive/item/lestwe forgettacitusonhistorywritingunderatyranny.html . I am grateful to the generous audience on that occasion, and particularly to Harm Pinkster and Daan den Hengst for their presence. I also thank the participants in research seminars in Edinburgh and St. Andrews for valuable discussions; two referees for Histos for interesting and constructive suggestions; Lauren Emslie for helping to draw up the bibliography; Nancy Laan for again helping in more ways than she knows; and most especially John Moles for his tolerance, indeed encouragement, of a colleague venturing on his territory, and for his invaluable practical and moral support during the writing of this piece. He may of course have been mentioned in the lost books on Gaius, who permitted recirculation of Cremutius’ work (Suet. Calig. .); this will not have changed the picture. For the text of the Annals , I follow Goodyear (–) for Books –; Woodman– Martin () for Book ; Martin–Woodman () for Book (except at ..: below, n. ); and Heubner () for the other Books. All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated. Copyright © Jakob Wisse December Jakob Wisse clear that in portraying Cremutius, the historian who was brought to trial in AD for praising Caesar’s assassins Cassius and Brutus in his work, Tacitus is making a pronouncement about his own predicament and task. Despite the volume of relevant scholarship on the passage—some of it very recent—, crucial problems and gaps remain. It has usually been acknowledged that any interpretation needs to take account of other pivotal passages in the Annals , especially from the preceding portion, but the nature and strength of the connections with the earlier parts have not been properly brought out. My analysis therefore begins, in §, with an examination of the relevant themes, as well as of a series of conspicuous passages that occur before and immediately after the account of the trial, and that must be assumed to be ‘accessible’ to readers of this account. It will appear that the place of the passage in the texture of the first four books is crucial for an understanding of the passage itself and its implications. In §, I offer a close analysis of Tacitus’ presentation of the trial and its aftermath. I then (§) turn to Cremutius’ main argument, which has received a number of conflicting interpretations. Cremutius claims, problematically, that he should not have been brought to trial because his praise of Cassius and Brutus is merely a matter of words, not deeds, and because they lived so long ago that praising them should not upset anyone. It has long been clear that this claim is bound up with Tacitus’ well-known digression on historiography under the principate that immediately precedes (Ann. .–), but this link has in fact tended to deepen the problems: the end of the digression seems to indicate that Cremutius’ argument is disingenuous. I will offer a re-interpretation of the digression and the historiographical principles set out there, and argue that in that context Cremutius’ claims make sense; and that the rhetorical concept of figured speech has been fundamentally misinterpreted in much of the modern scholarship, and has no relevance to the problem. A short section follows, about the real Cremutius as he emerges from our scanty sources, and the light this throws on Tacitus’ treatment (§). Finally, the emphasis on memory in the passage is interpreted in the light of the well-known programmatic statement in .. about memorialisation, of virtues as well as vices, as the ‘pre-eminent task of annals’. Tacitus is making a claim for the power of history-writing, while at the same time shaming Tiberius and leaving a tribute to Cremutius Cordus. The Prominence of the Cremutius Passage The historiographical theme and Tacitus’ expression of anger at the end are enough fully to justify the importance generally attached to the two chapters Remembering Cremutius Cordus on Cremutius. This is underlined by the obvious link with the very first, programmatic chapter of the Annals , where pressure on historians to avoid offending the emperor is a central concern. By his claim to write sine ira et studio (..), Tacitus contrasts his own work with that of historians who were (near-)contemporaries of the Julio-Claudian emperors: Tiberii Gaique et Claudii ac Neronis res florentibus ipsis ob metum falsae, postquam occiderant recentibus odiis compositae sunt (‘the accounts of events under Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius and Nero were untruthful because of fear while they were alive, and after their death written under the influence of recent feelings of hatred’, ..). While Cremutius’ case is obviously different from that of the latter, the problem of writing under political pressure is thus one of the issues underpinning the enterprise of the Annals from the start. And this, in turn, is an important aspect of the more general problem that drives most of Tacitus’ writings: how should a Roman of his class, who should be striving for distinction in the public and political sphere, behave under the autocracy of the empire, especially if the emperor is in effect a tyrant? There are, however, many more features in the Annals that show that Tacitus wanted his readers to regard his account of Cremutius’ trial as highly significant, and, on arriving at the passage, to expect something of general import. Some of these features occur in the account itself, but most are a matter of context, particularly that formed by the preceding three-and- a-half Books. A discussion of these contextual elements will show how thoroughly the passage is embedded in the structure of the Annals . The central role that the architecture of the Annals must play in its interpretation is now generally acknowledged, especially after the brilliant work of Ginsburg and Martin. The latter showed clearly the extent to which implicit links between passages, strategic positioning of episodes and comments (such as at the beginning and end of books and years), gradual development of themes, and other structural features contribute to the articulation of Tacitus’ views and his interpretation of historical events and processes. The former’s careful analyses demonstrated, in particular, that the selection and positioning of events in each year reflect central themes, True regardless of whether one takes his outburst as a genuine expression of emotion or not; see below §.. Defined as Tacitus’ central question, e.g., by Martin (/) . Ginsburg (); Martin (). Martin (), who warns against a purely literary (‘artistic’) interpretation of Tacitean structure ( ib. ). A particularly telling example is his analysis of the political implications of ‘the manner in which Thrasea Paetus is integrated in the structure of Annals –’ (–; quotation, ). Jakob Wisse sometimes resulting in chronological dislocations. As this description illustrates, there are many features that can legitimately be regarded as ‘structural’. I will begin by examining how some themes relevant to the passage (apart from the central one of historiography under the principate) have been developed in what precedes it. Then I will turn to what may be called ‘landmarks’: shorter and longer passages emphasised by, for instance, their position or content, and for that reason ‘accessible’ to readers of the account of Cremutius’ trial; some of these will further underline the themes discussed earlier. Context I: Further Themes The charge against Cremutius was (minuta ) maiestas , and such trials have rightly been called a ‘Leitmotiv’ of the Tiberian books. We find the first discussion of maiestas in a well-known passage (.–) that is not only emphasised by its length, but also by its position at a structurally marked location, viz., at the end of Book . The tone is set by its beginning: the re- introduction of the law by Tiberius cancelled out his modest-sounding refusal of high honours offered him by people and senate (non tamen ideo faciebat fidem civilis animi: nam legem maiestatis reduxerat , ..). The sequel continues in this vein: the Augustan beginnings of the inappropriate stretching of the concept to include ‘defamatory writings’ (primus Augustus Ginsburg (). It must be noted that—rightly in my view—she nowhere suggests that such dislocations amount to misrepresentation: Tacitus nowhere puts a precise date within the year upon ‘dislocated’ elements, merely globally dating them in the year in question.
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